The Captain
by FNPCapt KC
Summary: He was the best. They were the best. But all except him are gone. This is the story of the four penguins we all know and love. Based on a dream I had a while ago.
1. Crash and Sink

A small, penguin sized (and built) yacht dove into waves as a storm above it roared. The captain desprately clung to the steering wheel as the boat got tossed around. He scanned the horizon behind the waves, trying to find land, but with no luck. His lieutenant burst in, soaking wet and out of breath.

"Report," the captain ordered.

"Sir, she's gained some damage,"

"Oh, great. Just what we needed. Where and how bad?"

"There's a hole in her stern. According to my calculations, she will sink less than an hour,"

"You and your brother take the life boats and leave the ship immediately,"

"What about you, sir?"

"I'll be fine. Now go!"

"But, sir-"

"That's an order!"

"Okay..."

So the lieutenant got his brother and they boarded a life boat and started pulling the ropes to lower themselves. Only a big wave came up to their side of the boat. It knocked them off the life boat and into the water. As they resurfaced, they tried to grab the life boat, which was still attatched to the ropes. Another wave game, but this time, it knocked the life boat into the water. It landed in top of the brothers, leaving them unconcious and sinking into the water's depths.

Meanwhile, the yacht was quickly sinking. As the last part went under, the captain swam out of it, but before resurfacing, something got his eye. He saw his two comarades' life boat upside down on the ocean floor. He swam towards it, wondering what it was doing there, though he already knew the answer. He lifted up the boat, revealing their bodies. He put listened to their chests. No pulse. They were gone. His two best friends, brothers at heart (and one in Christ), team mates were deceased. A wave of grief washed over him and his heart sank like the yacht. He resurfaced, not sure what to do. There was nothing he could do. Except swim and hope to find land or another boat. So that's what he did.

**Well, first chapter done. Sorry that it's short. The first chaps in my story are almost ALWAYS short. But they'll get longer as the story grows. Anyways, thank you for reading!**


	2. Rescued

After hours of swimming, I saw a small boat on the horizon. Starting to have hope, I swam towards it. It was a yacht, like ours, only human-sized. I swam up to the side, to see an 7-year old girl clutching a doll. She smiled as she saw me.

"Look, Mommy!" she shouted. "A penguin!" Her mother walked up to her.

"Sweetie, it probaly was just your-" then she saw me. "Oh. My. Gosh. Stay right here. I'll go get the captain," While dong that, I decided to do some tricks to entertain the girl. She giggled as I leaped and did a double back flip. She kind of reminded me of...NO! I will not think about them...Aw, crud. Tears started filling my eyes, but I would not let them fall. The girl must've noticed I was sad, because her smile immediately turned into a frown.

"You miss your friends, huh?" she asked. I nodded. You have no idea...

"Don't worry. We'll get you to them,"

I wish...

"And I'll be your friend, too!"

I looked at her. She really wanted me to be happy, didn't she? I guess I shouldn't let her down... I did a few more tricks for her before they pulled me out of the water with a net. The girl walked up and gave me a hug as soon as they took me out of the net.

"Lilly, be careful. He might peck you," her mother warned. I rolled my eyes to say _Just because I'm a "wild animal" doesn't mean I'm feral._

"Don't worry, Mom. I know he won't,"

"Well, he does seem pretty nice..."

So that's how that began. Lilly took me to her cabin on the boat, giving me some sardines before going to bed. I slept next to her on her small bed. She seemed to admire my company. So I wasn't going to blow it. I drifted off, not really dreaming about anything in particular.

"Honey, wake up!" Lilly's mom shouted, gently shaking her daughter. Was it morning already? No...It was still dark outside. There must've been a storm because the boat was heavily rocking . But when I looked at the window, the waves were pretty well calm.

"What's wrong, Mommy?"

"A pod of dolphins keep ramming into the side of the boat, trying to knock the boat over,"

Pod of dolphins? Oh no... I got up and waddled out the door and onto the main deck. Sure enough, he was in the water with a few other dolphins, ramming against the boat's side.

"Blowhole!" I said.

"Well, peng-you-in. What a suprise. I thought you would've been dead after your boat sank,"

"You put made that hole in our boat?!"

"Don't be stupid, peng-you-in. Of course I did,"

"Y-you killed them!"

"Yep. I sure did. Now can we puh-lease move on. This is getting old,"

At that moment, Lilly andher mother came out.

"Mommy, why does that dolphin have a metal eye?" she asked. But this just made Blowhole more mad.

"It's robotic, you idiot human!" He rammed into the boat again, causing Lilly to loose her balance, and fall over board.

"LILLY!" her mom screamed. I dived in after her. All 3 dolphins charged at her, but I made it to her before they did. I beat every single one of them until they were KO'd.

"This is what happens when you kill my friends!" I screamed angrily at them. I swam over to Lilly and grabbed her hand, pulling her back to the boat. At this point, they had lowered a life boat for us to get in to. I helped her in and then hoped into it myself. They hoisted us up and we climbed out. Lilly's mom ran towards her daughter, hugging the life out of her.

"Oh honey! I'm so glad your alright!" she said, then turned to me.

"You saved her! Thank you so much!" she stroked my feathers.

"Well, your quite welcome," I said, though all she heard was just a bunch of random penguin noises.

* Two weeks later*

I sat at a desk in Kelli's office at the I.P.M. headquarters in Antartica. The I.P.M. HQ was pretty much the only thing interesting in this frozen wasteland. It was undergound, tough, so no human would be able to find it. Kelli was the head penguin over team positioning. We'd known each other since we were hatchlings and she was like a sister to me.

"So, Manfredi and Johnson...there...dead?" she asked in her Australian accent (which she gained after leading a team of her own in Australia), some sympathy sparkling in her hazel eyes.

"Uh-huh..." I answered, holding back tears.

"Listen, I know this is going to be hard, but you know I'm going to have to assign you to a new team,"

"I know... It's just no one can replace them. It just seems wrong doind so,"

"I know it does, but you're not replacing anyone! And they would want you to move on, right?"

"I guess..."

"Okay, then. Well, anyways, I'm moving you to the Central Park Zoo in New York City. There's a penguin there. He's-...well...unique. Doesn't talk alot, but is the smartest penguin out there. He's going through alot, too. Trust me,"

New York? I've been there a few times before with Manfredi and Johnson. Nice city. But the thought of starting a new team stinged my heart.

"I do, but I can't...I'm sorry, Kelli,"

"Why?"

"He's...He's not Manfredi or Johnson, okay?"

"I know, but if anyone can train him to be one of the best soliders out there, it's you,"

"I guess, but it won't be the same,"

"I know! I miss them, too! I've known them as long as you have. But ya'll were one of the greatest teams the I.P.M. has ever known! And you were The Captain. You still are!"

I was a bit suprised she called me by my old nickname, The Captain. I earned it while training at a military academy, being the head of my class. No one thought I would be the best there, since I was "just" a rescued orphan and had no expierience. But I was. I saved the school on several occasions, earning the name. But ever since the incident Hans caused in Denmark, no one called me it anymore.

"Just give it one chance. He needs you. And you need him," she continued.

"I-I just can't, Kelli!"

"Yes, you can!"

"How do you know?"

"Because, Skipper, you're The Captain. You can do just about anything,"

**Thank you for reading! **


	3. Silent

The truck came to a screeching hault, jolting the box I was in. I heard an annoyed zoo keeper grumble a few words, then she picked the box up and started walking towards what I'm going to assume is my new habitat. The box stopped moving, so I guess I was here. Sure enough, the zoo keeper pryed the box open with a crow bar, I waddled out to get a look at my new home. I was on a concrete island-iceberg thing surrounded by water. I saw the fish bowl, which Kelli said was hiding the entrance to the real show. A tall, slim-ish penguin was next to it, staring at me. I'm going to assume he hadn't had much expierience in the military, but he seemed to be very smart (maybe too smart?), so he'll be a fast learner. I could tell he was slightly disapointed. Maybe I wasn't at all what he was expecting...

"Um, hi?" I asked. He looked suprised, but immediately kicked at the fish bowl and went down.

"Hey, wait up," I said and followed him. "Woah," Kelli was right. This place was nice. There were 4 bunks carved into the concrete walls. A TV sat in the corner, not too far away from a control panel. A table was in the center, well, it looked like a table. It was a large square of concrete supported by 4 cinder blocks. There was also a door. I wasn't sure what it was for, but as soon as I took everything in, he went in there, slamming the door. Well, then. Now what?

I looked around, trying to find something to do besides swim and be cute for the zoo visitors. I found a tape recorder, much like the one I had lost on the boat. Maybe I could make a Skipper's log. I pressed record.

"Skipper's Log. Manfredi and Johnson have drowned, I'm sorry to say. Blowhole sunk our yacht and they didn't make it... I got rescued by a boat and Blowhole tried to kill everyone on board as well. Anyways, long story short, Kelli assigned me to start a team here in New York City, starting with a penguin who's already here. So far, he hasn't said a single word. I pray he'll come around. A bit hard to be the leader of a successful team when your team won't communicate with you,"

Okay, then. Now what? Eh, maybe I should just get some sleep...

**Sorry for the shortness! I didn't know what else to write. And yes, the penguin is Kowalski. I read an epic fic months ago called Skipper's Log that revealed how the team was brought together. And when Skipper first met Kowalski, he was very shy and didn't say a word for the first few weeks. I liked the idea, only Kowalski will talk in the next chap. I just need to write the next chap... Oh and Rico and Private will be in future chaps. Not sure when, but they will. Oh and thank you XxPenuinSoliderxX for the review! :)**


	4. Falling

**The title is named after a song that I thought went well with this chapter. Well, the first part of the song doesn't, but most of it does. It's called "Falling" by Florence & the Machine. Open a new tab and look it up.**

**Feel free to listen to it while reading this chapter.**

*Kowalski's POV*

I quickly locked the door to my lab. I grabbed the letter Kelli sent and re-read it.

Dear PFC. Kowalski,

I'm sorry to hear about Will, Tony, and Kai. Trust me. It wasn't your fault. Anyways, you're getting a new commanding officer, Cpt. Skipper. I inculded a copy of his file, as well. I know he's not Will, but I've known him since we were kids. He's one of the best commanding officers out there. He even saved my life a few times. In fact, he just lost his team, too. So please just try.

Best Wishes,

Kelli

I got the letter a week ago. I had been dreading this day. I didn't want a new commanding officer. I didn't want to be a solider to begin with! After I got rejected from Adele Coast University and my parents died, I didn't know what to do. All I did was invent. Then, Kai, my best friend enrolled in the military. I didn't have anything else to do, so I joined him. It was great at first. Will acualy let me expieriment and was kinder than I thought. Tony was into science as well and we would often experiment together, while Kai called us nerds. It was almost perfect. Until the incident 5 weeks ago...I don't care what Kelli says, it was my fault. I was stupid enough to make a careless mistake.

I was inventing what was my greatest invention yet. It would've been able to turn us into humans. Everything was going perfect, until I forgot to carry the two... When I tried testing it topside, it exploded. But not just a small explosion. This was a large one. It destroyed all of the near by habitats. It didn't destroy ours, since ours was made of concrete. But, well... it also killed them. I was the only survivor of us. Doctors at the zoo said I was lucky to be alive, having to need multiple surgeries and stay in the infirmary for 2 weeks. But somehow I did survive. I guess God wasn't done with me yet.

But I was lucky I had Will. Most commanding officers wouldn't dare let their team invent, since it was a distraction from training. But he did. He wasn't as strict as most officers were, yet he still was an amazing leader. He was kind. And when ever we had problems, he was always there... I knew this Skipper-guy wouldn't be like him. And it's only been five weeks... I wasn't ready to move on. I don't know if I ever will...

I heard the sound of a button being pushed, then Skipper's voice filled the air.

"Skipper's Log. Manfredi and Johnson have drowned, I'm sorry to say. Blowhole sunk our yacht and they didn't make it... I got rescued by a boat and Blowhole tried to kill everyone on board as well. Anyways, long story short, Kelli assigned me to start a team here in New York City, starting with a penguin who's already here. So far, he hasn't said a single word. I pray he'll come around. A bit hard to be the leader of a successful team when your team won't communicate with you,"

I guess Manfredi and Johnson were members of his old team. And he knew Blowhole? We fought him a few times, defeating him easily. The only problem was, he never gave up. He kept returning, determined to end all of humanity. Anyways, Skipper did sound upset when he mentioned the death of his friends. So maybe he wasn't as cold hearted as I thought... Maybe I should listen to Kelli and try to talk to him. It's just. He wasn't them. I needed them... But I also needed to toughen up. So... I guess I'll give it a shot... I unlocked the door.

"Skipper?" I asked. But he wasn't there. I was about ready to look around the zoo for him, when I heard gentle snoring. I looked at the bunks and found Skipper sleeping in Will's bunk. Guess I'll tallk to him in the morning. I climbed up to my bunk and drifted off...


	5. Two

*Skipper's POV*

I woke up the smell of fresh coffee and sardines. I opened my eyes and saw the penguin (who's name I still had yet to know) sitting at the table holding a mug of fish coffee, my favorite. I got up and waddled towards the table. The penguin shoved the mug in my flippers.

"Here," Well, he spoke. I guess that's a start?

"Oh, thank you!" I said, taking a sip. "How did you know I like fish coffee?"

"Um, it was in the file Kelli sent me..."

"Oh," Seemed a little strange that _that_ would be on my file, but I did love my mug of joe...

After a few long minutes of pure awkward silence, he locked himself into that room again. Well, at least he talked. He'll come around eventually. I just know it...

*Kowalski's POV*

Ugh! I just couldn't do it! I wasn't ready to move on! Not now! It's only been a little over a month... I know I needed to. They would've wanted me to... But I just can't! But it's not like I can bring them back... Or go back in time and change everything...

Wait a sec, THAT'S IT! I'll build a time machine and go back in time to the day I invented that stupid machine! When Past Kowalski isn't looking, I'll destroy the machine! And then I'll go back to present day and everything will be perfect! They'll be here and everything will be okay, again! I quickly got to work, building of what is definately going to be my greatest invention!

Mulitple hours later, I added the last piece on to the time machine.

"There!' I said, examining what I had built. But as I looked at it, thoughts swam inside my head. Like, if I do bring the team back, what would happen to Skipper? Eh, he'll probaly get a better team than me. I started up the machine, typing in the date of that awful day. The machine lite up, like it was supposed to. But, then, one of the things popped off. Oh great... I forgot to carry the two AGAIN!

The machine's lights went out and everything started flying off. One of the larger, sharp pieces flew towards me, hitting me in the head and everything went black...

*Skipper's POV*

I was outside, acting cute and cuddly for the people. They tossed me some sardines before leaving, probaly going to see that hippy of a lion, Alex. I don't see how he was the main attraction. All he did was stand on his rock and roar. Just a cheesy, 10 second performance. At least my "Smile and Wave" routine was longer than 10 seconds.

But then, my thoughts were interupted by a loud scream coming from below. I rushed down the ladder. He must still be in that room. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. I looked around for something I could pick locks with. Thankfully, I saw a paper clip on the table. I straightened it, then bent it until it was the perfect lock pick.

I unlocked the door, and saw that large, random pieces of metal were scattered everywhere. Under a pile of some of the pieces, I saw a limp flipper. I quickly took the pieces him off and looked him over. He was unconcious, bruised, and had a large gash on the side of his head. No broken bones, but that gash was bleeding pretty bad. I looked around for a first aid kit and thankfully found one on a shelf. I started bandaging his head, praying that the bleeding would stop, so I wouldn't have to use *shivers* a needle and stitch him up...Then, I carried him out and put him in the lower bunk, keeping an eye on him until he woke up.

*Kowalski's POV*

My head hurt. That was the first thing I noticed. I slowly opened my eyelids and saw that I was in Will's bunk. Something was wrapped around my head (a bandage probaly) and something cold (an icepack?) was right where it hurt the most. Skipper was sitting by my side, watching me.

"Oh, thank God you're awake!" he said.

"S-Skipper, what happened?" I asked. I tried sitting up, but immediately lied back down, as the rest of my body ached when ever I moved.

"I found you unconcious and hurt in that room, buried in a pile of of metal scraps. I took care of your injuries and watched you until, well, now. What's the last thing you remember?"

"A large piece of metal hitting my head, then everything went black,"

"What were you doing in there?" Aw, great... Well, I guess the truth was going to have to come out eventually...

"I was building a time machine and-"

"You know how to build time machines?! Why didn't you tell me? We could've gone back in time and slapped some hippies!" Slap hippies? He was starting to sound alot like Will already...

"Well, you see... Alot of commanding officers don't want their team to invent since it is a distraction. My old leader let me, but I was afraid you wouldn't..."

"You kidding? I don't know much about science, but anything that let's me slap hippies is fine by me. You can invent as much as you want. Just as long as your inventions don't destroy the world or anything. Now what went wrong?"

"I forgot to carry the two..."

"Oh. And why were you building a time machine? You don't seem like the type who dreams of slapping hippies, so..."

"Oh, well, um... I wanted to go back and change a mistake I made a while ago..."

"What mistake?" And he had to ask _that_.

"Uh.. I-I...kinda..um..."

"I'm sure whatever it is can't be that bad," But it was...

"I KILLED THEM, OKAY!" I started crying. "I didn't mean to, but I did! I don't care what anyone says, it was my fault!"

"Killed who?"

"My old team..."

"What happened?"

"I was testing a machine that I invented and it exploded...only it was 10x worse than my time machine. It killed every single one of us except me. Though I had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks... I miss them, Skipper... They were llike brothers to me,"

"I know how you feel..."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah... I knew my team since we were kids. But this one day we were sailing to Brazil when we got caught in a storm. Our boat was sinking, so I told them to go and take the one life boat we had, since it could only fit them but somehow their lifeboat sank and they drowned. I survived but, well... If I hadn't told them to take the life boat, they would've been alive..." I saw a few tears in his eyes.

"When did that happen?"

"Three weeks ago," Dang, that was after my team left. Yet, here he was moving on. Must be hard on him, too... Maybe he is a good commanding officer. Not as good as Will, of course. No one could replace him. But he was close...

"Skipper?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry for ignoring you. I just didn't want to move on,"

"I know. I didn't ethier. In fact, I was even considering quitting the military. But Kelli convinced me to stay in and start a new team, starting with you. By the way, what's your name?"

"Kowalski,"

"Kowalski... That's Polish, right?"

"Yes, sir..."

"And what rank are you?"

"Private First Class,"

"Well, Kowalski. You're look like you'll make a great lieutenant. I'd say, after you recovered and with a few weeks of training, you'll be ready to be promoted," Promoted? YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESY ES!

"Promoted? You think I'm ready?"

"Of course! I know a good lieutenant when I see him,"

"Well, thank you, Skipper!"

**Yay! So Kowalski finally came around. Sorry I haven't been updating much frequently. I keep getting writer's block on this story... Anyways, next chapter will start Rico's story, so yeah... And thank you for the reviews!**


	6. Kablamo

*Rico's POV*

They never understood me. My rookery in Antartica. To them, I was just a teenage penguin who was the weirdest of the wierd. They thought the only thought I had in my brain was ethier about fish or dynamite. Well, it was a little bit true. I did love fish and dynamite. But I had other thoughts. Like they would care. I never belonged with them. But where else was I supposed to go? This was the only rookery in sight for hundreds of miles. I prayed every night that I would get a chance to leave. But my prayers had yet to be answered...

Ever since my parents left me here when I was 8, my life has pretty much sucked. I always wondered why they ditched me. Was it because I loved destruction and some gore?" Or because I couldn't talk? See, I was born silent. "Vocal-chord defect" they told us. Over the years I learned to say simple words, but the other penguins told me that every time I opened my beak, their earholes bled from my voice. I knew it wasn't true. But for some reason, I did listen to them and keep my beak shut. The other penguins told me that my parents left because I was a mistake. They said that they never loved me so as soon as I was old enough to catch fish on my own, they left. Maybe I was a mistake. But I knew at some point, they had to love me. Right? But then, why did they leave?

I spent most of the day a few miles away from the rookery, building ice castles, then blowing them up. I loved destruction. It felt like it was the one thing I could control. The one time I felt carefree. And it was the one thing I was good at, besides catching fish. I once built this castle that was at least 50 feet tall. It was beautiful, but seeing it explode was the best part. Today, I was going to try to build one 100 feet tall, making it my best work yet. An explosion big enough to blow up a castle that big should be seen from miles. Who knows? Maybe another rookery would see it and somehow take me in. It would take me all week to put the ice together and carve it, but it was going to be done.

I finished carving the last part of the ice, completeing the castle. I climbed down and admired my work. After a week, it was finally down and it was as awesome as I imagineed it to be. Now time to blow it up! I stuffed the thing with dynamite and started backing up to watch this thing explode. But as I would, two penguins from the rookery (Jack & Neil) came up.

"Wha' are you 'oing here?" I asked, glaring at them.

"What are _you _doing here?" Jack repeated.

"Ka-boom!" I pointed towards my castle, proud of the work I had done.

"You're gonna blow that thing up?" Neil asked.

"Uh-huh!"

"Why? Your just wasting your time building something your just gonna blow up,"

"Nuh-uh,"

"Whatever, freak," Then, they left. Oh, thank God. Now, I can blow this baby up without any more interuptions.

I backed up a few more feet, clutching the remote that would blow up my creation. I looked at the castle one last time before pressing the big red button. But as soon as I hit the button, I realized something. I was too close. I should've backed up at least 100 feet more. I started running away, but half a second later, large, flaming chunks of ice flew towards me. The last thing I remember was a short feeling of being crushed and burned before everything went black.

**Again, sorry it's short. And sorry for the wait. I honestly had no clue what I was going to do for Rico until I heard this song called Reflections of a Dream Part 2 (orchrastra) by the Aviators. It inspired this chapter. Also, I'm thinking of animating a trailer for this fic. Only problem is I need voice actors. **


	7. Found

**Thanks for reading/reviewing! It means alot!**

*Skipper's POV*

The cold, Antartic breeze ruffled my feathers as Kowalski and I trudged through the frozen wasteland, searching for the rookery. We were looking for new recruits. Don't get me wrong. I was grateful for Kowalski. Over the past few months, we've become good friends. But a team of 2 isn't very big and alot of missions require more penguins. So for 2 months now, we had been traveling from rookery to rookery, looking for the right penguin. So far, none were interested and the IPM currently didn't have any recruits looking for a team. So they next rookery on our list was Rookery 279. Only problem was, it was far from the other rookeries. It was three hundred miles away. We had a snowmobile, but that broke down a few miles ago. According to Kowalski, we had 8 miles left. So we decided to walk the rest of the way. And thanks to a storm, this was turning out to be the longest 8miles of my life. We could stop and set up camp (we each had a large backpack stuffed with supplies) and continue until the storm had passed, but we were so close. And we didn't want to have to use our supplies unless it was an emergency.

"Kowalski?" I asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"How many miles left?"

"Three, I think," he answered, looking at our map.

"Oh, thank God! So we'll be there in about an hour?"

"Affirmative,"

I was about to say something, when something up ahead caught my eye. As we got closer, I could see that chunks of ice were scattered everywhere. And by a pile of some of them, was a remote, slightly burned and broken.

"Kowalski, analysis,"

"Well, it appears, that the remote could've caused this. Maybe it triggered an explosion?"

"Explosion. Makes sense. I guess that's what we heard an hour ago. But what happened to guy pressing the remote, since remotes can't just press themselves,"

"I don't think who ever did this wouldn't leave the remote, so I belive he or she could be buried under the ice,"

"Oh,"

Then, we both realized what Kowalski had said, our eyes widening. We immediately dug through the ice, looking for a sign of the penguin, hopefully still alive. After half an hour of searching, a tip of a flipper sticking out finally caught my attention.

"Kowalski! I found something!" I shouted. He immediately ran to my side and helped me dig out the penguin. He was a young penguin, no older than 17, not to much younger than Kowalski, who was 19. He had a mohawk, which puzzled me. He was hurt pretty bad. Burns and deep cuts covered his body (especially one on his left cheek) and if that wasn't bad enough, his left flipper and right foot were broken.

"Kowalski, analysis," I said again.

"His injuries are pretty severe,"

"I can see that,"

"Right, sorry. He needs immediate attention. I suggest we set up the tent, take him in, and treat his injuries,"

So that's what we did. After the penguin was patched up, we laid him down on one of the cots we brought, covering him with warm blankets. And after a nice fish dinner, we decided to sleep. The sun was still up, but after walking for hours through a blizzard, we we were dead tired. So we went bed.

*Rico's POV*

I felt a wave of pain wash over me as I slowly opened my eyelids. Though my vision was a little blurry, I make out two other penguins and an army green backround. The penguins probably weren't from my rookery, considering anyone there would've let me die. Still, I wasn't sure if I could trust them. My vision finally cleared up and I could see that my theory was correct. I've neve seen these two penguins in my life. One was a tall, slime penguin and the other was alittle shorter than me and his head was flat for some reason. I looked around and saw that I was in a large tent, lying on a cot and covered with blankets, so I wasn't able to see the damage the explosion caused. But the stinging pain told me it was not pretty. The taller penguin spotted me and tried to get the attention of the shorter penguin.

"Skipper, he's awake," He and the shorter penguin (Skipper?) walked towards me.

"Uh, hi!" Skipper said. "You're probably wondering what happened, huh?" I nodded, not saying a word for I knew that if they heard me, they'll treat me like the other penguins had.

"Well, to put things shortly, we found you under a pile of pieces of ice and we took you in and took care of your injuries. You have a broken left flipper and right foot as well your body is covered with burns and cuts, so try not to move much," he didn't have to tell me twice.

"Oh, and I'm Skipper and that's Kowalski. What's your name?" I gently shook my head. There was no way I was going to blow this perfect, clean slate I had with these penguins. I don't care if I have to remain silent until I'm healed. I wasn't going to have two penguins hate me while I was stuck with them.

"Um, okay..." Kowalski replied. "Were you the one who caused the explosion?" I nodded.

"Why?" I shook my head and gave the tall penguin a cold glare, before rolling onto my belly and pretending to sleep. I didn't like him questioning and judging me. Was that all they were going to do? In that case, I'd be better off without them. As soon as they aren't looking and I feel a little better, I'm going to escape this prison. At least at the rookery I can be alone in my igloo of a home. I heard the two penguins talking and decided to listen in on their converation.

"What's his problem?" Kowalski asked.

"I don't know. Maybe us. Or in this case, you,"

"Me? What did I do?" Everything.

"You're the one who questioned his love for explosions,"

"He has a love for explosions? How can you tell?" I agree with that Kowalski-guy (for once), how did he know?

"He had a physco look in his eye that told me he did it because he loved explosions. And he would do almost anything to see one. And anyways, he kinda reminds me of you when we first met,"

"But I'm nothing like him!"

"How do you know? We just met the penguin. And anyways, remember how you ignored me? He's doing the same thing. Why? I don't know. But I have a feeling he's hiding something from us, which gives him a reason not to trust us. But something also tells me he would make the perfect addition to our team,"

Team? They have a team? And no! I'm not going anywhere with them. Well, Skipper was okay. But I could tell Kowalski just thought I was a freak like my rookery.

"You want _him_ to be our new recuit?"

"Kowalski! You're acting as if it's a bad thing!"

"But he could blow up the entire zoo!" Oh, so they live at a zoo. In that case, a double no to being stuck the rest of my life with them. And Kowalski was not making things better.

"Well, we'll just have to put a little disipline into him. Not too much, though. Because a dynamite expert is just as valuable to a team as a smart guy is. Maybe even a little more,"

"Hey!"

"And be careful on what you say about that penguin, because I have a feeling that he's not really asleep,"

Man, he is good. I turned around, immediately glaring at the tall penguin.

"See?" Skipper said, smirking at Kowalski. I tried regurgitating a bat (a talent I discovered when I was 4), but then saw that my beak was bandaged, not enough to keep me from talking, but enough to keep me from hacking up anything larger than a baseball. So instead, I tried sitting up. I don't care if it kills me, that Kowalski was going to get it!

But as I did, I immediately took that thought back as a new, burning pain flared up on my belly. A few black spots started to clog my vision, and I think the penguins must've known what was going on, because the next thing I knew, a felt two pairs of flippers laying me back down. One of the flippers started massaging my belly, helping the pain go away. My vision returned to normal a moment later, and I saw that the flipper belonged to Skipper. Kowalski stood next him, trying to hide a look of pleasure that gleamed in his eyes.

"Listen, you need to lie still. Your cuts could reopen easily, so just don't move alot for the next few weeks," he said. I rolled my eyes and gave him another glare to say, _"If you hadn't been so judgmental, this wouldn't have happened!"_

"He's right. you know," Skipper said, still rubbing my belly. "We don't want you to be in anymore pain than you already are. Physically and _emotionally_," he gave Kowalski a look. I chuckled a little.

"Kowalski, has the blizzard cleared up?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"Why don't you restock us on fish? Our supply is starting to run low,"

"Fine," Kowalski left, giving me a quick glare.

**Thanks again for reading or reviewing, if you did or you are. Sorry this took about a week. It took me forever to write one of the chapters to my other story. And sorry if Kowalski is a little out of character. Since he's 19 in this chapter, I figured he would act a little less mature than he does in the series and complain about Rico. Next chapter is Skipper's and Rico's converation, where yes, Rico finally agrees to be the next recruit. **


	8. Voice

After Kowalski left, I turned back to the mute penguin, trying to think of what to say. He really did remind me of Kowalski, besides the fact that his expertise was in explosives and not intellect, which was perfectly fine by me. To me, brutal force beats intellect. Though too much brutal force doesn't end well, as this poor penguin had to learn the hard way.

"Sorry about him," I started. He still looked mad, but his eyes softened a little as they mey mine. "He doesn't know that explosives are valuable to a team, but they are. There perfect for escaping an enemy, destroying things that need to be destroyed, and defeating an enemy. I used to have an explosions expert on my old team. Because of him, our tail feathers were safe and in one piece. We also had a smart guy, like Kowalski. At first, they fought like everything, but after being together for a month or so, they became close friends. We all did.

"Anyways, I don't blame you for being mad at Kowalski. I'm a little mad at him myself. But please take it easy on him. It's been a rough six months for him. You see, he accidently killed his old team. He keeps blamming himself, putting more guilt on his shoulders than a solider should. And though he seems to be feeling better each day, occasionaly I'll hear him cry himself to sleep. It's hard to hear him and it makes my heart drop every time...Almost five months ago, I got assigned to start a new team, starting with Kowalski. When we first met, he didn't speak a word to me. He didn't want me. He wasn't ready to move on. And to be honest, I wasn't ethier. But eventually, we talked to each other and we decided to try to move on. And 2 and a half months ago, I ranked him as my first lieutenant, my second in command. Now, we just need a few more recruits and we'll have a successful team,"

I couldn't really tell what the penguin was thinking. He had a good poker face. Too good.

"Um, so what's your name?" I asked, but he just shook his head again.

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" He nodded. "Well, what is it? We can't help you if you won't tell us," Another head shake. He was starting to frustrate me. But then, another possibe problem came into view.

"Can you talk?" He cautiously nodded. "Then, why won't you?" He lifted his good flipper, pointing it to his throat, beak, and then to my earhole. "There's something wrong with your voice?" Another nod. Well, at least we were getting somewhere. "Whatever it is I'm sure it can't be that bad. At least try. I'm not going to make fun of you or anything,"

He looked at me, his eyes softening until they were like a sad puppy's eyes. He sighed and then finally opened his beak.

"Mah 'ame's Rico,"

His voice wasn't that bad. I even liked it. It sounded aggressive, like he could murder an enemy in 10 seconds flat. I wondered why he hid it. Sure, it was grunty and it probably would be hard to understand him at times, but I've heard worse. Rico's puppy eyes were larger, now and he looked more terrified than sad. I also saw that he was lightly shaking, as if he was terrified of what I thought about his voice. He immediately turned away onto his side.

"Rico! It's okay! I like your voice," He turned around in disbelief. " 'Ou do?"

"Yes. It shows that you can get aggressive and that you're not afraid of the enemy,"

He still looked scared. "Why? Does anyone not like your voice?" he nodded. "Who?"

"Mah rookahwee,"

"You're rookery? You mean the rookery a few miles from here?" he nodded. Well, it's a good thing we never went there. Just knowing that they had issues with aggressive, awesome penguins, like Rico, told me that they would never make a good solider. He would.

"What did they do to you?"

"Hate meh, tease meh, 'ake mah life misrahball,"

"I see. So you were afraid I was going to be just like them?"

"Uh-huh," he was still shaking, just at the thought. I knew what to do next. I knew I was going to do it the second the penguini woke up, but this time, it was certain.

"Rico? How would you like to be our next recruit? We live at a zoo in New York City, where we get plenty of fresh fish, a big pool to swim in, and free medical care. And our habitat has secret HQ where we have explosives, TV, explosives, coffee, explosives, a bunch of other random stuff, aaaand explosives. You won't be bullied there, and if anyone does, they'll have to deal with me first. And I've taken down a walrus with a wing and a prayer,"

He thought about it for awhile and then nodded. "Okay," he said.

"Well, welcome aboard solider! As soon as your on your feet, we'll train you to be one of the best soliders out there. Any questions?"

"Your 'ol team?"

"Well, um, we were taking our boat to Brazil in the middle of a storm, one of my enemies sunk our boat and I tried saving them by telling them to take the lifeboats, only they sank somehow and now, they're gone,"

"Sowee,"

"Thanks. Now, why don't you try to actualy get some sleep. You'll need it,"

" 'Kay," He rolled on to his belly, but immediately winced and rolled back on to his back, gasping. His belly must still be effected from when he tried to sit up. I did the same thing I did earlier and rubbed his belly.

"Let's try not to put any pressure there," I said. "I would try sleeping on your back for the next few weeks," he nodded. After 10 minutes, I gave him a few painkillers and he quickly fell asleep. Kowalski returned moments later, carrying multiple fish.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

"Well, we have a new member of our team,"

"WHAT?! You can't be serious,"

"But I am,"

"But he tried to kill me!"

"Kowalski, give him a break. He's been bullied all his life and we're the first penguins he's met to actualy give him a chance. And you're not going to ruin it. We can't let him go back to a world of being cut down for everything he does. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. And I'm sorry. But how did you know all this?"

"He told me,"

"He spoke?"

"Yes, but he was afraid to. When he spoke, he looked as if I was going to murder him or something. He was afraid I was going to treat him like his rookery had,"

"Oh. Well, sorry again. I didn't know,"

"I didn't ethier, but I'm glad I do. 'Cause I know he'll be a goor recruit. Besides, he reminds me of Manfredi. Like you remind me of Johnson,"

**Thank you reviewers! You guys are so incredibly awesome! And thank you readers, as well! Next chapter might be the start of Private's story, but I'm not too sure. **


	9. Abandoned

An adult penguin waddled quickly down the streets as the snow fell, clutching his ball of fluff of a nephew. The past two days had been traumatic for him and especially for the young, down-feathered penguin. The poor thing wasn't sure what was going own. All he knew was that his parents were dead and the person who killed them was after his uncle. His uncle hadn't told him much, knowing that at anytime the child could tell the entire world he was a spy. Still, he felt bad he had to hide things from a memeber of his family. And now the boy was the only family he had, since Red had killed his brother and sister-in-law. Immediately after their deaths, Nigel grabbed Private and fled the country of Canada, stowing away on a boat headed for New York. They arrived in the city just minutes ago and Nigel knew that it was only a matter of time before Red knew where he was and hunted him down. He scanned the streets, looking for a place suitable for his nephew to stay while he dealt with the evil squirrel. Finally, his eyes landed on an advertisment for a zoo in Manhattan. On it was a photo of three penguins, smiling and waving. _Perfect!_ he thought. Only problem was, he had never been to New York and he had no idea how he was going to get there. So, he just kept waddling through the snow, looking for it, when Private began to tug gently at his uncle's feathers.

"Uncle NIgel?" he asked.

"Yes?" Nigel answered in his fake accent he used for his cover.

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to a nice place, Private. Where'll you'll make lots of new friends," he sugar-coated the truth, not wanting to put the boy through anymore than he had to.

"Oh,"

"But can you do one thing for me?"

"Sure!"

"You remember the way I taught you to speak with a Brittish accent?" The boy nodded. "Well, use it now," he couldn't let other penguins find out who he and Private were.

"Why, Uncle?"

"Uhh... I'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

Private opened his beak to say something, when a loud crashing sound pierced his eardrums. Nigel stopped dead in his tracks.

"What was that?" Private asked, now scared.

"I don't know," Nigel set Private down in a ally. Immediately, the young penguin hugged himself tightly as the cold snow drenched his down feathers. "Stay here, Private. I'm going to see what's going on,"

Private nodded and the older penguin left the ally, making it a few yards before something attacked him. Private heard his uncle's scream and immediatley ran out of the ally, looking for him. But Nigel wasn't there. So, Private went back to the ally, lying down and using a few sheets of old newspaper to try and keep himself warm. He eventually fell asleep, shivering as the blizzard gave him its worse.

A few days later, hunger and sickness were starting to get the better of the little penguin. He couldn't feel his toes and his lungs and throat burned. He found himself weak and very tired, so he slept most of the day. He would often cry for his parents, longing to be in his mother's flippers once more. He had no idea what happened to his uncle, but he hoped he would return soon and never leave him. He prayed that he was out there, alive and okay. Because if he wasn't, Private didn't know what else to do. He'd probably die in the cold. In a way that would be okay to him, since he would be with his parents in Heaven, but he didn't want to die. He still had Nigel. And he knew that somewhere, he was okay, trying his best to get back to penguin. _But, what if he's not?_ Private thought. That very thought made him cry. He kept crying, too tired and weak to stop. He didn't even look up when he heard a voice talking. The owner of the voice could've been talking to him. But Private didn't really care at this point. A set of flippers picked him up and presseed him to their owner's chest feathers. Private snuggled up to them, loving the warmth they gave him and he quickly fell asleep. The last thing he saw was a new face, looking down at him with a worried, yet hopeful expression.

**Again, sorry for the shortness. I'm not completely done with Rico. Yet. I just felt like putting Private's introduction out there. As a heads up, Nigel is okay. But that wasn't who picked up Private at the end. That was Skipper. :) Next chapter soon, hopefully. And thanks again for the reviews! You guys are awesome!**


	10. Hot Chocolate Apparently Saves Lives

*Rico's POV*

I ran through the training course again, with a song by The Offspring stuck in my head (You're Gonna Go Far Kid). I was determined to complete this thing in under a minute, even though a thick blanket of snow covered the ground. After a month, Skipper and Kowalski decided I was well enough to travel, so we made it back to their zoo. The place was pretty nice. I didn't get to blow stuff as often, but it was waaaay better than that rookery. My beak and stomach were still bandaged and my right flipper was still burned a little, but I felt a heck alot better. Enough to tell Skipper that I was ready to start training. He agreed, but toned the course down. The first time he was impressed, stating that my time was better 30 seconds better than Kowalski's first score. After recieving a small glare from the tall penguin, I decided I was going to beat my record. Finally, I crossed the finish line, smiling contently as Kowalski announced my time. 56.7 seconds. I was out of breath and my injuries ached a little, but I didn't care.

"Nice work, solider! I thought you would've been satisfied with a time already better than Kowalski's, but no! I like your enthusiasim," Skipper high-fived me. My smile grew. I loved it here. Penguins at my old rookery would never treat me like this and I was loving it.

"Why don't we celebrate with some hot chocolate?"

"Uh-huh!" I agreed. Kowalski's face light up. He was starting to warm up to me. Well, he was being alot nicer. So, I returned the favor. Still, there were times when Kowalski will glare at me whenever I did alot better than he did. I guess he was just jealous I was more athletic than he was, thanks to the years of hauling blocks of ice. But he was smarter than the rest of us. That's got to count for something, right?

We went back to the HQ, only to find we were out of hot chocolate mix. Kowalski suggested that we could snag a a few mugs at Starbucks, which I quickly agreed.

"You sure you're up to it?" Skipper asked me. I nodded.

"Okay. Kowalski, you got the money?"

"Affirmative,"

"Excellante. Move out,"

*Skipper's POV*

Twenty minutes later, we were sneaking to the back of Starbucks. It was the time of day when no one went there, so we lucked out. Now, we just had to knock-out the workers. It was the first mission since Rico came to New York, so we asked him to just watch us, for now.

The backdoor was thankfully unlocked, so we got in pretty easily. Kowalski disabled the security cameras while I explained to Rico what the plan was.

"Okay, we'll knock out the workers while you stay and watch for humans. If you see any and it's a bad time, knock them out with your good flipper,"

" 'Ow do I 'ock 'em out?"

"Smack the spot on the back corner of their neck as hard as you can and they'll be out in seconds,"

"Okay!"

"Then, we'll get the hot chocolate and leave them some money to cover for our cocoa,"

So, we did what we told the boy and ten minutes later, we were waddling home in the snow with styrofoam cups filled with hot chocolate. Rico chugged his cup in 10 seconds flat. Apparently, this bugged Kowalski and he spent the next few minutes lecturing Rico how that was not "healthy" and blah blah blah...

"Yeah, yeah. Wha' eva!" Rico said, annoyed.

"I'm just saying that a liquid that hot could damage your-"

"Kowalski!" I interrupted. "For Pete's sake! Just let the boy enjoy his cocoa!"

"Sorry!"

Then, I suddenly got a strange feeling in my gut. As if, something was wrong. But what could be wrong? All three of us were satisfied with hot chocolate. Rico didn't seem to be in any pain and Kowalski wasn't blaming himself. And I definately was fine. Was an enemy stalking us as we speak? Maybe that was it. I looked around until my eyes landed on an alley up ahead. Something in my mind clicked. That was it! Not wanting the two younger, less-trained penguins to get hurt, I ran towards it, not saying a word.

"Skipper? What's wrong?" Kowalski asked. I ignored him an entered the alley in a fighting stance, assuming the worse.

But instead, I found something more sad and heart-breaking. A young, down feathered penguin, no older than 8 in penguin years was sitting on the ground, staring at the cold snow that surrounded and covered him. He didn't appear to notice me and he looked awfully sick.

"Kid?" I asked trying to get his attention. By this time, Rico and Kowalski had caught up.

"Kowalski? Analysis,"

"It appears that this penguin chick had been abandoned on the streets and the cold has left him sick and he seems to be half-concious,"

Poor little guy. Kinda reminds me of myself when my parents died...

"Looks like we're going to have take care of this little guy until further notice. Understood?"

"Understood,"

"Uh-huh!" Rico agreed.

I picked up the young penguin and pressed him to my chest, trying to warm his cold and thin body. I took my cup of hot choclate and poured some of it into his beak. That made him a bit more aware of what was going on. He looked at me with the biggest blue eyes I've seen. I smiled at him as he quickly fell asleep in my flippers. I knew right then that he would be okay.

"Come on, men. Let's take this fellow home,"

**Ello! Thank you for reading and reviewing if you reviewed! :) I'd say, this story has about 5 chapters left. Then, I will have a sequel, entitled "The Private". And maybe another sequel as well. I love writting on the characters' pasts. **

**Thank ya'll once again and have an amazing week/weekend :)**


	11. Safe

**Omigosh I am SO SO SO SO SORRY this took forever to get out. But here it is. So enjoy!**

As soon as we got home, we immediately began working on the young penguin. Rico found some old blankets, which wrapped him in to keep the guy warm. Kowalski took him into his lab and ran a few tests. Half an hour later, he came out and broke the news to us. The young penguin had a bad case of pneumonia.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive, Skipper. He has a fever of 105 degrees and he's having a little trouble breathing. And I took an x-ray, which showed that his right lung has pneumonia,"

"What are we going to do?"

"I reccommend taking him to the vet. They'll know what to do,"

"No, Kowalski. We can't do that to him!"

"What do you mean?"

"He's just a boy. And it looks like he's never been to a zoo before. We can't let him wake up to a bunch of random humans doing God-knows-what to him. I think he's been traumatized enough,"

"Skipper, we don't have the equipment here to help him. I wish we did, but we don't. The only thing we can do here is keep him well-fed and warm. He needs the vet. And you know it,"

I did. But I didn't want the small penguin to feel even more alone. I didn't want him to go through the same things I did.

*Private's POV*

I slowly lifted my eyelids, only to be greeted by pure white. Was I dead? No. Unless heaven makes beeping noises. My vision got better and I saw that I was in some sort of room painted completely white. I was lying on a bed, these wierd things attacthed to my belly and flipper. The aching pain I had felt the past few days returned, altough it wasn't as bad. Where was I, though? The last thing I remember was a worried face looking down at me. Was it Uncle Nigel? Was I at the place he said he was going to take me? But I didn't see any penguins here, let alone friendly ones. A human came in and gently picked me up. I haven't had much expierience with humans, so I didn't know what to excpect. Was he the one who picked me up off the streets? No. It was a penguin, since he/she had flippers and I remember snuggling up to his/her chest feathers. Humans didn't have those, right? The human putted this thing (I think Uncle Nigel said it's called a syringe?) into my beak and my tongue immediately reconized the stuff being forced down my throat. Fish. It seemed like it had been forever since I had some, though it was only less than a week.

I tried chugging it, but it occured to me that my throat was really sore, so I just let the syringe do the work and swallow it. After awhile the human put me back down. I snuggled up to the blankets surrounding me and tried fallling asleep. Which I did, only to be akowen a few moments later by voices. I quickly opened my eyes and saw three penguins, all older than me, but younger than Uncle Nigel. The shortest one I immediately reconized as my rescuer. He was talking to the other two penguins, about me, I think.

"Um, hello?" I croaked, my throat burning. Wait. Didn't Uncle Nigel ask me to use a Brittish accent? Aw, crud. Oh well. I'll just use it from now on.

Their attention immdediately went to me.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"We found you on the streets, sick and half-frozen. We took you here and as soon as your better, we'll return you to your parents," The penguin who resecued me explained.

"But, t-they're gone. Dead..." A few tears sprang to my eyes. NO! I will not cry. Not infront of them.

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry... But then who was taking care of you?"

"My uncle, Nigel"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He left me on the streets about a week ago,"

"Oh. Well, um, how are you feeling?"

"Tired. And my tummy and throat hurts... Who are you?"

"I'm Skipper. That's Kowalski," he pointed to the tallest of the three. "And that's Rico," he pointed to the other penguin. I noticed that he was hurt, his beak and belly bandaged. He also had a mowhawk, which I thought was a bit funny.

"Hi!" He said, smiling. His voice was well, strange. It sounded like he had a very sore throat. Maybe he did. But something told me that that was how he actualy spoke. Not that I minded.

"Um, hi!" I said back.

"So what's your name?" Skipper asked.

"Private,"

"Private..Like the military rank. Nice! A bit of a coincidence, since we're in the military,"

"Really? M-my parents were in the military..." As I said that, all memories of them sprang back. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. I rolled on to my belly, trying to hide my face. I knew I probably was going to soak the blankets warming me, but I really didn't care.

"Do you want us to leave you alone?" Kowalski asked.

"No!" I sobbed. "Please... Don't leave me. I'm sick of being alone," No pun intended.

A flipper started rubbing my back soothingly. I heard whispers being exchanged. Through my crying, I was able to make out a few words: "Orphan" "Just a kid" "Needs us" and "Recruit". I couldn't remember what a recruit was, but I remember Mommny and Daddy using it before.

"Don't worry, kid. It'll be okay," Skipper told me. "We won't leave you,"

With that said, I let my crying die down to a soft wimpering. Within a few minutes, I slowly fell asleep.

**And thank you for reading! You guys rock! And especially the reviewers! :D I AM confirming 2 prequels and a sequel to this story. **

**Sequel: The Private (which will be more in detail on Private's first year on the team. If you're a fan of moments of Skipper being fatherly/brotherly to Private you may like this)**

**Prequel 1: The Skipper (Explains Denmark, Skipper's childhood, etc.)**

**Prequel 2: The Scientist (More into detail on Kowalski's story, focusing on his childhood and the few years he spent with his first team)**

**I WAS going to do a story on Rico's past as well, but I pretty much explained his past in this fic. I could do a 1-shot on him, if you want, but that's about it. :/ **

**Anyways, THANK YOU again for being awesome and being patient for this chapter to come out! Bye!**


	12. Hero

*6 years and 11 months later*

*Antartica*

Kelli sat in her office, enjoying her morning coffee and looking through a few old files of her and her old team in Australia. Suddenly, her secretary burst in, looking nervous and frantic.

"What's wroung?" the former capitan asked.

"The Red Squirrel. He's defeated Agent Nigel,"

"Nigel's...dead?"

"No. Not yet atleast. Red has captured him and he's currently holding him hostage, saying if we don't give him our weapons lab, he'll destroy him in the most long and painful way,"

"We can't lose Nigel! He's our best agent. And we can't give up of weapons ethier. It'll just make him more powerful. We need to send backup. Who do we got?"

"No one. Admiral said that we don't have any teams experienced enough to defeat him. We could send Skipper and his team, but they have a young, almost 15 year-old who has been through enough already. Plus, Red killed his parents,"

"You have me,"

This took the secretary back. "You? But Kelli, he's Penguin Enemy Number 1. You haven't been on a mission since...since..."

"The incident. I know, I know. But I used to be pretty good myself. I can handle Red,"

"Y-you sure? I don't want you getting killed,"

"I'll be fine. Tell the Admiral I'll be ready by 1200 hours,"

"Kelli-"

"That's an order, Sarah,"

"Yes. Yes, ma'am..."

"Good morning, Private!" The three penguins greeted the youngest of the group. His down feathers had fallen off years okay, but he still had those big, blue eyes that made him look younger that he was. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the smiling penguins. Kowalski and Rico shoved 2 boxes, wrapped in colorful paper into the boy's flippers.

"Happy 15th Birthday!" The penguins said in unison. Private beamed. Skipper handed him a box as well, only it was smaller than the rest.

"Don't just sit there," he said. "Open them!" The young penguin did so, squealing in delight at the gifts. A stuffed Lunacorn from Kowalski, a large box stuffed with kippered herring from Rico, and lastly, a dog tag from Skipper.

You see, Private wasn't allowed on very many missions yet. He still wasn't at the age when he could be enlisted (17). But Skipper did train him. Hard. The boy didn't mind very much, though. He wanted to be like his parents and he wanted to make them proud. Private stared at the dog tag.

PVT. Private

I.P.M. Navy

CHRISTIANITY

0420867PG

"But, I'm not old enough yet. How did you get this?" Private asked.

"I pulled a few strings," Skipper answered. "Welcome to the team!"

"Oh, thank you, Skippah! Private got up and hugged him. "You guys, too!" Kowalski and Rico joined in, happy to now have him officaly apart of their unit. But the moment was ruined my a loud knocking on the hatch.

"Hang on a sec," Skipper said. He let go of Private and climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch. An I.P.M. messanger stood, looking a little sad from to news he was about to give.

"What's wrong?" Skipper asked.

"Kelli. She decided to go after Red, who was holding one of the I.P.M.'s best agents hostage. She was able to free the agent, but she got wounded. Bad,"

All the happiness Skipper had felt a moment before immediately left him. Kelli... She made all of this possibe. She assigned him to start a new team here in NYC. He never would have met these penguins he called his family without her. And she was the one who helped Skipper make Private able to officaly join the team.

"H-how bad?"

"A deep gash in her chest, a severly broken flipper, and her back's broken as well. But the gash damaged alot of her organs. Not to mention she lost a lot of blood. She's currently in a coma at the IPM's headquarter's hospital. Doctors aren't very sure she'll make it,"

Skipper went back down, not daring to say another word. Private immediately saw the look on his face and knew something was up.

"What's wrong, Skippah?"

"We need to go to Antartica. Now!"

It was a long journey. It invloved digging a tunnel in their habitat, smiling & waving, and hi-jacking a cargo ship. But within 2 weeks, they were there.

Skipper praticaly sprinted to Kelli's room when the doctors said she was out of her coma.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She looked as worse than he thought. Altough she was awake, she looked miserable as ever, with all these machines attatched to her almost lifeless body. Her breathing was ragged, indicating that, well...

"S-Skipper? Suprised to see you here..."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Not exactly... But I will in a moment,"

"What do you mean, Kelli?"

"Skipper, you and I both know what I mean,"

"No! Kelli, you're going to be fine!"

"Skipper, it's fine...We're all going to pass someday..."

"Not you, though! Not now! I wouldn't be the penguin I am today without you. You were the one who saved my tail feathers during the Denmark inncident, so I wouldn't have to lose my job or my life. And you were the one who sent me to New York. Thank you, Kelli. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me..."

"Y-your welcome, Skipper. So, Nigel's safe, you're once a succesful leader again, so I guess m-mission accomplished..."

And with that said, she closed her eyes, smiling. Her heart monitor's beeps gradually slowed down. Skipper clung on to her good flipper, telling her it would all be okay, she'll live, and return back to her job, and everything would be perfect.

"Love you, Skipper..." she whispered.

_beep...beep...beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeee-_

Sorry if this was a little depressing, but I didn't really have any other plans for my OC, besides having her in "The Skipper", which explains Skipper's past up to the begining of this story (Manfredi and Johnson's death). So, I killed my own OC. And she kinda was based off of me, well not completely of course. The next chapter will also be a little depressing, if not more than this one. But Private will cheer it up a little, so yay. Again, THANK YOU SO FREAKIN' MUCH FOR READING AND REVIEWING! :D


	13. Fix You

**Not my best chapter but I thought it would be adorable having Private try to cheer Skipper up. Some of this may be a bit confusing, so be warned.**

Skipper stood by his best friend's grave. A cold wind ruffled his feathers, not that he cared. He could've done it. He could've freed the agent. _What was his name again? _Skipper thought. The others had left and were eating dinner at the small house they were staying in, but he didn't want to leave. He couldn't. He stood there, his eyes filled with tears. He desperately wanted to let them fall. But he couldn't.

Cpt. Kelli Paratus was buried the same place she was born, by a port in Maine. No humans, were around, but Skipper tried his best to keep his guard up anyways. It was cold. Being a penguin, he didn't usually mind. But this was a different cold. He looked at her dog tag, which he was clutching tightly in his flippers.

"Skippah?" said a voice behind him.

"Yes, Private?" Skipper answered, not turning around.

"Do you want to, um, go inside for a bit? It's getting dark. And it's freezing out here,"

"I-I don't care..."

"Listen, I know how you feel. We all do, really," Private stepped closer to his leader.

"You guys know what it's like to lose your best friend? To feel all alone in the world? S-she was the only one there for me when I was a chick. No one else had hope for me. Heck, if it wasn't for her, they probably would've kicked me out of that training acadamey. She was the one who introduced me to Manfredi and Johnson. S-she was the one who... who made her commanding officer stop the helicopter w-when she saw me by m-my parents cold, dead bodies..."

"Remember the day I met you? When I was in the ICU, stuck with pneumonia? I started crying because my parents were long gone and dead. And you told me that it would be okay. That you, Rico, and Kowalski would always be ther for me and I wouldn't be alone anymore. Remember?"

"I remember..."

"Remember the day I tried to build a time machine, to leave you and go back and change things so my old team would be alive and okay?" Kowalski said, waddling up next to Private. Skipper still didn't turn around.

"Yes..."

"An' meh?" Rico said, standing next to the others.

"Y-yes, okay?"

"Skipper, it's going to be fine. We understand what you're going through. I lost my best friends. Private, Rico, and I all lost our parents. And during those depressing times, you were always there for us," Kowalski said.

"We just want our Skipper back," Private stated, almost begging. "And we'll do almost anything to get him back,"

Skipper turned around into their flippers, crying for the first time since his parents died. The others were a bit suprised, seeing their tough, strong leader breaking down, but he had been there for them, so now it was their turn to be there for him.

"Thank you, men..." Skipper whispered after a few minutes, feeling alot better.

**Only one chapter left to this. :( Man, can't belive how much I've written off of a dream. But as I said early, we have 3 other stories related to this one, so it ain't the end. Oh and "Paratus", Kelli's last name, is the second word to the U.S. Coast Guard's motto: Semper Paratus. **

**Once again, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU for reading and the wonderful reviews! :D**


	14. Reflections of a Dream

"Thank you, men..." I whispered after a few minutes, feeling alot better.

"NO!" _I heard a Brittish voice scream. Immediately, I knew what was going on_.

I woke up and climbed the ladder to the first bunk where Private was sleeping in a nightmare, tossing his head violently from side to side. I also noticed that he didn't have his stuffed Lunacorn, which didn't suprise me as the same routine had been going on for weeks. I climbed back down, scanning the room for it, until my eyes landed on the pink toy that had been thrown across our HQ. I climbed back up and tried waking him up.

"N-no!" he said again, scared. I felt sorry for the poor kid. He had been having the same dream for weeks. Only problem was, it did happen. In his dreams, his parents gruesome death was played over and over. I didn't know what Red did to his parents, but whatever he did must have been bad enough to make the boy scared and in tears every night.

"Private," I said, gently shaking him. "Private, wake up!"

His eyes flew open and gasped for air. I handed him his Lunacorn, which he clung on to for dear life.

"Th-thanks, Skippah..."

"You had the dream again?"

"Yes. I-I can't take it anymore..."

"I don't like it ethier. What you expierenced was too traumatic for being at a young age. And now you're forced to relive it over and over again in your dreams,"

"Thanks, Skippah,"

"No problem,"

"And what's so bad about it is that it never gets to the good part, where you find me and everything is okay. It just repeats itself. And I hate it,"

"It's gonna be okay, though. Now, how about some hot chocolate and a peanut butter winky?"

"Sure!"

*5 minutes later*

I placed the warm mug into the young penguin's flippers and sat by him, sipping some coffee I whipped up for myself.

"So?" I asked. "Do you want to hear a story?"

"Yes, please!" He said. "C-can you tell me what happened to Manfredi and Johnson?"

"Uhhh... I don't know,"

"Please, Skippah!"

"Oh, fine. We were on a mission, sailing to Brazil where Blowhole was said to have headquartering there. Rumor had it that he was building nucular missiles to fire at the I.P.M. HQ. We were sent by boat to destroy them. But Blowhole must've known we were coming, because he sank our boat. I tried to save Manfredi and Johnson by having them take the one life boat, which can only hold 2 penguins. And when I swam out of the boat, I discovered there lifeboat, sunken and upside down. I flipped it over, revealing there, cold drowned bodies..."

I looked at Private's face, which was almost as sad as it was when he woke up from his dream.

"Private, it's okay. Everything happens for a reason. As much as I miss them, if they hadn't died I never would have met you guys. You would still be out in the streets, possibly dead by now. Rico would've been back in his village which was practicly living heck. And Kowalski would be in the hands of some terrible leader who forbidded him from inventing and science,"

"True. But I don't know... Good things can't come out of everyone's death. Like I can't imagine a single good thing that would come out of yours, Skippah,"

"Please. There will be something. There almost always is. Ready to go back to bed?"

"Yeah, I guess. Can you tuck me in,though?"

I couldn't help but smile. As old as Private was now, he sometimes still acted like the 8-year-old we rescued from the streets.

"Sure, why not?"

*Two minutes later*

"Good night, Private," I whispered as Private curled up in his blanket and squeezed his Lunacorn.

"Good night, Skippah! And happy birthday!" what he said caught me off guard.

"It's my birthday?"

"Yeah, June 30th? You don't remember?"

"Can't say I do," I said as I slowly made my way down the ladder. "But thank you anywa-"

I was cut off as I lost my footing on the ladder and plumeted towards the floor.

*SMACK

I felt a slow, throbbing pain in my head. It made my vision blurry and clouded... The last thing I remember before blacking out was a young voice calling my name...

I slowly opened my eyes, only to be greeted by 3 cheerful faces.

"Skippah!" Private shouted, squeezing the life out of me. I noticed I was in my bunk, something cold (ice no doubt) on my head.

"You feeling okay, Skipper?" Kowalski asked.

"Never better," I said, sitting up.

"Good! Rico?"

Rico went over and grabbed something on the table. A fish cake.

"Guys you didn't have to- Just kidding you had to," I joked, wolfing down a good sized slice of cake. "Thank you!" But then I noticed something. It was quiet. Too quiet.

"Kowalski? Why aren't the lemurs blasting their music? Not that I want them to, but still,"

"We sent them on a plane to Madagascar. They should be back in about a week," He smiled. I smiled, as well.

"Perfect!" I got up waddling over to our boom box. I hit a few buttons and "Rock n Roll" by Skrillrex started playing.

( watch?v=BWfW9puOrD4)

"Now we can blast our music,"

And then, we began the multiple hours of partying, dancing, and at some point we had an epic pillow war that somehow ended in Rico faceplanting into our ceiling and Kowalski's head stuck in Private's stuffed fish on the wall. At that time, we decided to go to bed,n as it was midnight. Just a few minutes after we were all in our bunks, Private climbed down.

"Skippah? Can you tell me another story?" Of course that's what he wanted

"Okay," I answered. I got up and joined him at the table.

_"Sirens blared behind me as I ran through the forrest. It was dark and the only thing lighting my path was the moon light and the light emminating from the flashlights of the officers looking for me. Dogs barking in the distance forced me to run faster..."_

**And that's the end! And the ending sentences were a little sneak peek of one of the prequels. Stay tuned as I have something that I would like to say but it's kinda long so I put it in another chapter.**


	15. Author's Note

Hey everyone! I'm sad to say that this story has come to an end. But in a few weeks, I should have the sequel, "The Private" up. I have to say, I'm suprised at how well this story went. It started off as a dream I had last summer. The dream was a trailer for a movie my brain entitled "The Capitan". The trailer didn't cover much. All I remember was a fatal ship wreck, Skipper surviving the ship wreck and being picked up by a boat, and Skipper sitting in an office with a female penguin who spoke with a Brittish and/or Austrailian accent. So, I built the story from there. I came up with most of the other character's stories while listening to "Reflections of a Dream" by the Aviators mulitple times. And some of the chapters (like the ending) were based off of a fic I wrote a while ago that was based off of everyone's past. But I didn't really like it, so I never posted it. Some chapters were okay, though. So, I put re-written versions of them in here.

I was a little suprised to find that this story was more popular than my other story, since that one has almost always been more popular. But then again, I honeslty love this one alot more. And that's why I'm writting multiple sequels.

And thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU for reading, reviewing, and making this possible. YOU ARE AAAAAAAAWWWEEEESOOOOMEE!


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